Meanwhile, on the other end of the Subcontinent… I just read in New Kerala.com that November 14 is Yesudas‘ Golden Jubilee – fifty years since he started singing in movies. So, I’m going to post some favorites sung by Yesudas…

I’ve already posted most of the songs from Ningalenne Communistakki a few times, and most of them have been sung by Yesudas. I’ve posted this first one a few times also, but not so recently. As opposed to the revolution songs in this film, this one seems to be more of a sweet/romantic song. (Not that I can understand a word of it, but…) Yesudas is also doing his best crooning here, and among the songs from this movie that I’ve heard, I do find this one to be the most pleasant. I also love looking at those shots of the Kerala scenery – I think this is better than in the Kerala tourism videos that I’ve glimpsed (and there seem to be quite a few of those)…

This next one is really nice and is also great fun. Yesudas does some fine carnatic/classical singing here, and the three-dancer bharatanatyam is very interesting. And Ragini looks fabulous (whether she’s dancing or just sitting and watching)…

Speaking of Travancore Sisters, Grandma, what big eyes you have! I’ve posted songs from the Malayalam version of this next film more often, though I have delved into the Tamil version at least once before. I’m posting this song from the Tamil version now because it includes a longer clip of Padmini in the beginning. (Padmini also looks better in this – I think that they made her look even more granny-ish in the Malayalam version, with whiter hair, etc.) Anyway, of course, this is a post in honor of Yesudas, so let me add that he sounds very nice here.

I learned only very recently that Yesudas also did some Hindi movies. This is a nice scene of Yesudas singing on Kamal Haasan in the Hindi movie Sadma. From the clips I have seen, Sridevi is very interesting in this film, playing a woman who suffers a head injury that causes her to mentally regress into childhood. The music is composed by the great Ilaiyaraaja.

Now, getting uncharacteristically contemporary here (but also getting into a movie I’ve talked about here before)… I like this song from Arabikkatha (2007). Since the movie centers around Malayalis living and working in Dubai, it is very appropriate to hear this interesting Middle Eastern/Malayali mix in the music.

In Arabikkatha, the main character, “Cuba” Mukundan, frequently longs not only for his home land, Kerala, but also for the days when the communist party to which he has been devoted for so many years wasn’t as complicated and, in places, corrupt. (That corruption is part of the reason that he has ended up in Dubai.) It seems he would have been much happier in the heyday of Kerala’s communist movement – which brings us back to Ningalenne Communistakki, and a fun song that I have neither seen nor posted before…

As I mentioned in comments below my previous post, after there had been much conversation about the clip from Nooran, now, on Neenaly’s Channel, we can find the movie Nooran in full, in twoinstallments, with English subtitles!

In terms of plot, Nooran is pretty much a cross between Romeo & Juliet and Mirza Sahiban, and it might also remind you of a whole bunch of other movies, so there is nothing that original or surprising here. But the movie is still compellingly done, and as with quite a few old tragedies from the Subcontinent, there are some good comedy scenes along the way. The performances are also very nice. The hero, Sudhir, is quite good, and I like his playback singer, Munir Hussain. Noor Jehan is a bit campy in places, but she still gives a moving performance here, and her vocals are positively heavenly, with fine music provided for her by Safdar Hussain, who had also been the music director for the great 14-song-packed Isq-e-Laila, released just six weeks earlier. (Thanks, by the way, to Pakistani Film Magazine for providing the exact dates.)

Of course, I already have posted a few songs from Nooran on this blog, both recently and further in the past… But I might just post a few more, or even “rerun” some again, in the near future.

For the time being, here is the first number. (Or, one might say, the first bit of sung narrative, which is a nice device used in a few places in the film.) Appearing after the opening credits, it lets the viewer know right away that we’re in for a real musical treat – and a Noor Jehan treat, especially…

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